A zoo in Denmark is asking people to donate their pets — specifically chickens, guinea pigs and rabbits — to be fed to the zoo’s predators.
“In zoos we have a responsibility to imitate the natural food chain of the animals — in terms of both animal welfare and professional integrity,” the Aalborg Zoo said in a statement, per ABC News.
The Aalborg Zoo’s request, posted on Facebook, sparked backlash online with many people disagreeing with the practice, while others see no problem with it.
The zoo is not asking for unwanted pets, as many online are saying, but the program is looking for animals that would be nearing the end of their lives anyway, per The New York Times.
Aalborg zoo said the purpose of the program is to make sure “nothing goes to waste — and ensure natural behavior, nutrition and well-being of our predators,” according to the zoo’s website.
“People who want to get rid of their animals will find a way of doing that,” Marcus Clauss, co-director of the Clinic for Zoo Animals, Exotic Pets and Wildlife at the University of Zurich, said in an interview with The Washington Post.
The donated animals would be “gently euthanized” by trained employees before being fed to the zoo’s predators such as the European lynx, lions and tigers.
In a statement to CNN, Aalborg Zoo deputy director Pia Nielsen said that the program has been in place for years and is also a common practice in Denmark.
“For many years at Aalborg Zoo, we have fed our carnivores with smaller livestock. When keeping carnivores, it is necessary to provide them with meat, preferably with fur, bones, etc to give them as natural a diet as possible,” Nielsen said.
“Therefore, it makes sense to allow animals that need to be euthanized for various reasons to be of use in this way,” Nielsen added. “In Denmark, this practice is common, and many of our guests and partners appreciate the opportunity to contribute.”
The Aalborg Zoo accepts donations of chickens, rabbits and guinea pigs on weekdays between scheduled hours.
“If you agree to the general principle that you have carnivorous animals in a zoo, you somehow succumb to the necessity that you have to feed them animal material,” Clauss said, per The Washington Post. “If you do this in a way that is not primarily directed at economics, but at animal welfare, you will strive to get animals that had high welfare, ideally.”
The zoo’s request sparks controversy online
The zoo’s Facebook post about the program quickly attracted backlash with one commenter describing the practice as “a terrible trend of indifference with animals in Denmark,” per The New York Times.
Another commenter said that “feeding pets is absolutely unacceptable.”
Not all the comments on the post were negative; some commenters praised the program and others requested more details on how to donate animals. One person who had once donated a rabbit described the experience as “super nice and professional,” according to The New York Times.
There were also some people who posted on X, attacking the program with one user calling the employees at the zoo “sociopaths,” and another calling the practice “disgusting.”
Other people posted on X defending the Aalborg zoo and fighting against misinformation where people have been claiming that the zoo asked for “unwanted pets.”
Aalborg Zoo is also accepting horses
Along with asking for donated chickens, rabbits and guinea pigs, the zoo is also accepting horses to be donated as food.
The zoo’s website says “the horse will be delivered alive to Aalborg Zoo, where the horse will be euthanized by a zookeeper and a veterinarian and then slaughtered,” per The New York Times.
For horses to be accepted as a donation, certain conditions must be met. The zoo’s website also clarified, “Our needs vary throughout the year, and there may be a waiting list.”
Clauss shared that when horses are slaughtered, “you have a huge amount of animal — meat, bones, etc. — that goes to waste in our system because it’s not used by humans," according to The Washington Post.
He added that he supports zoos giving people the opportunity to donate their horses when the alternative is for zoos to purchase horsemeat to feed their carnivores.